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Matt Barnum

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Let's Roll!: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage

by Lisa Beamer

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in July 2008

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Matt Barnum said: " So I watched United 93 the other day. I had heard wonderful reviews about the film, especially about how refreshing it was that a film about such an emotionally-charged issue simply got out of the way and let the story speak for itself. Of course, no So I watched United 93 the other day. I had heard wonderful reviews about the film, especially about how refreshing it was that a film about such an emotionally-charged issue simply got out of the way and let the story speak for itself. Of course, nobody knows everything that happened on United 93, which is one reason I'm drawn to the story.

Todd Beamer was a passenger on the flight, known best for fighting back against the hijackers and his catchphrase "Let's Roll". His wife decided to have a dude who wears a purple sportcoat in his publicity photo (unironically I think) ghost-write a book for her. I wish she had not.

I had hoped to learn a bit about Todd Beamer and a lot about what happened during the period around the crash, hopefully gleaning some insight to the flight. What I got was a long-winded story about how Lisa and Todd met, what their parents were like, where they went to school, etc, etc. It takes forever to get to the details of the flight, which turns out to be the only truly interesting part of the book.

It's also unfortunate that the book was written for a 5th grader. I mean, when you tell me that a particular thing Todd did was "so Todd," I think I can understand the "so Todd" phrase without the quotes.

The most disappointing part of the book isn't the content, however. It's Beamer constantly reminding us how uncomfortable she feels with her newfound celebrity after the crash and how she doesn't want any of it. Of course then she details exhaustively all the shows she goes on and the dinners she attends and all the awesome things she says and how everyone loves her and how strong she is and how she grieves with hope but how sad it is that everyone that doesn't have God in their lives grieves without hope. I guess it isn't all about her though. I mean, at least she put that awesome picture of her husband on the cover, since this book was a testament to his life. Could you imagine what it would look like if you wrote a book about someone and then didn't even put a picture of them on the cover? What's that? There's a huge picture of Lisa Beamer on the cover, looking wistfully into the distance?

[crickets chirping] ...more "

Jul 16, 2008 12:39PM · see review